GDT: Welcome to the Black Parade: WCQF game 3, (1)Vegas Golden Knights vs (WC1)LA Kings @7:30

[SettlementRichie10]

It was kind of funny watching the Vegas bench celebrating the goals last night. They looked like the Kings in the final seconds in 2012. Running up and down the bench hugging each other. But hey, they deserve it I suppose.

They're hungry, and they feel like they have something to play for. The Kings lost a lot of that post-2014. I honestly haven't seen one "hungry" game from the Kings since Martinez scored his goal in 2014.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

They're hungry, and they feel like they have something to play for. The Kings lost a lot of that post-2014. I honestly haven't seen one "hungry" game from the Kings since Martinez scored his goal in 2014.

It's a culture thing. Stevens is a robot. Kopitar is a robot. Unless Quick explodes, the Kings don't really show any emotion other than Doughty whining. Sutter at least demanded the best out of guys. Stevens doesn't seem like he holds players accountable. Also, guys like Richards, Stoll, Williams, Mitchell, Greene, and Regehr are gone. Guys who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Now they have these younger guys who look up to the emotionless players or guys like Toffoli who are more worried about eating cupcakes and the Dodgers.

 

[Little Psycho]

Why would the Goldenchild knights get disciplined?

 

[RONNIEC]

I was just speechless witnessing the 2nd goal by LV.
Just out of nothing.
Quick had been spectacular for the whole series, whole night, but let in the easiest one.
Then minutes later we conceded the 3rd, people started leaving...

Couldn't post anything last night, but I think we should give our players a break in this series.
Our players just spent so much energy chasing the LV players and spent so much energy on our own end when LV was pressing us. The first LV goal was the best example. We were just exhausted.

For the whole series, we were not able to play our own game but chasing the opposing players for shift after shift. When it was our time to attack, to get the puck out of our zone, we were dead tired already.

I arrived LA Live at around 5:30pm, and the atmosphere was great... a lot of people... Fans were chanting whole night long... very supportive.
Have to admit, LV played better than us, better team won.

It was my son's first playoff game... I had a great time with him. We stayed till the game end.

 

[johnjm22]

I really didn't like seeing Kings players out there overacting and embellishing try to get calls. They looked like the 2012 Canucks.

 

[LAKings88]

I wasnt expecting a sweep(still hoping against it). I have been a fan for 30 years now. Seen a lot of bad hockey and am blessed to see the cup runs. I’m hopeful about Vilardi. Curious about what changes may be made in the offseason. I think next year is going to be tough. Kings benefitted from bad seasons for Calgary and Edmonton this year. Vegas is legit. Not sure how to feel about this Kings team going forward. Tired of them underachieving and failing to met expectations. Strange era of the Kings for me.

 

[tny760]

I really didn't like seeing Kings players out there overacting and embellishing try to get calls. They looked like the 2012 Canucks.

pretty hard not to justify when you look the other way and see karlsson get the call for suddenly forgetting how to skate when he gets a stick between his legs

 

[johnjm22]

pretty hard not to justify when you look the other way and see karlsson get the call for suddenly forgetting how to skate when he gets a stick between his legs

The series has been oddly officiated, but it hasn't been biased in either teams' favor. The Knights have had some pretty silly calls go against them.

Then again, the NHL has become a very odd league. Guys are getting punched, tackled, obstructed and it's all allowed. Then a slight ticky tack play will get called for a penalty.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I was just speechless witnessing the 2nd goal by LV.
Just out of nothing.
Quick had been spectacular for the whole series, whole night, but let in the easiest one.
Then minutes later we conceded the 3rd, people started leaving...

Couldn't post anything last night, but I think we should give our players a break in this series.
Our players just spent so much energy chasing the LV players and spent so much energy on our own end when LV was pressing us. The first LV goal was the best example. We were just exhausted.

For the whole series, we were not able to play our own game but chasing the opposing players for shift after shift. When it was our time to attack, to get the puck out of our zone, we were dead tired already.

I arrived LA Live at around 5:30pm, and the atmosphere was great... a lot of people... Fans were chanting whole night long... very supportive.
Have to admit, LV played better than us, better team won.

It was my son's first playoff game... I had a great time with him. We stayed till the game end.

Quick has been phenomenal this series. Phenomenal. Goaltenders can steal a game or two in a series, but at some point, they need their forwards to give them some goal support. Like usual, Quick is the one guy we shouldn't be leveling any criticism at.

 

[KingsFan7824]

It's a culture thing. Stevens is a robot. Kopitar is a robot. Unless Quick explodes, the Kings don't really show any emotion other than Doughty whining. Sutter at least demanded the best out of guys. Stevens doesn't seem like he holds players accountable. Also, guys like Richards, Stoll, Williams, Mitchell, Greene, and Regehr are gone. Guys who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Now they have these younger guys who look up to the emotionless players or guys like Toffoli who are more worried about eating cupcakes and the Dodgers.

All good answers, but 14-15 also did happen. All that actual leadership didn't/couldn't get to the team through some adversity that year. Couldn't even come up with a better effort in the last week of the season.

Did Sutter hold players accountable? How many times have people complained about King or Lewis in the top 6?

Sometimes things just click. The 12-14 teams had the right guys, at the right time. Even 2012 wasn't going anywhere other than the unemployment line for the GM before Carter worked out perfectly. There's a reason teams have a certain time when they win, and then they'll usually go decades without winning again. You get a group together that just has whatever "it" is, and you don't find that often. NJ has not been able to replace Stevens/Niedermayer/Brodeur. The Avs have not replaced Sakic/Forsberg. Dallas. Detroit. Edmonton. NY Islanders. Montreal. The only team that has come close to what they once had is Pittsburgh, because they lucked into 2 guys again. It was like 6 years into Lemieux's career when they were the 5th worst team and ended up with Jagr. Only then did they win, but not before another trade for a HoF center.

That they even have 2 Cups in the cap era is outstanding.

 

[RONNIEC]

Quick has been phenomenal this series. Phenomenal. Goaltenders can steal a game or two in a series, but at some point, they need their forwards to give them some goal support. Like usual, Quick is the one guy we shouldn't be leveling any criticism at.

I wasn't criticizing Quick at all...
I was just speechless... and surprised, shock...

Yes, I agree that, goalie can carry you up to a certain point... we need to score; and vice versa.

 

[fivehole32]

I have to echo what others have said. Its really tough to watch them go out like this and you're thinking in your head "that's another wasted year for Kopitar, Doughty, Quick in their prime." Ugh depressing. Also depressing is watching Quick completely on his game and have those games squandered. Fleury is so hot and cold, its just a matter of testing him a bit and he'll fold like a cheap tent. I told my dad walking out of Staples last night, watch next series Fleury will get shelled for like 4-5 goals in one or more games.

 

[tny760]

I have to echo what others have said. Its really tough to watch them go out like this and you're thinking in your head "that's another wasted year for Kopitar, Doughty, Quick in their prime." Ugh depressing. Also depressing is watching Quick completely on his game and have those games squandered. Fleury is so hot and cold, its just a matter of testing him a bit and he'll fold like a cheap tent. I told my dad walking out of Staples last night, watch next series Fleury will get shelled for like 4-5 goals in one or more games.

yep, this was imo the peak for this core as a group. kopitar out of his mind, brown coming back, doughty doing doughty things, quick shutting everything down.. and the secondary scoring ghosts. i think we've cycled through the 3rd and 4th line options enough in the past couple years to tell now that something needs to change as far as system or the coaching. gonna have to happen now cause we aren't getting this from brown/quick for much longer.. kopi and doughty probably have a few more years before declining at all imo

i love winning the jennings trophy but it doesn't mean much when you get shit on in the 1st round because you can't score a goal

 

[KingsHockey24]

We didn't take shit back in the 2014 series that we came back in.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I really didn't like seeing Kings players out there overacting and embellishing try to get calls. They looked like the 2012 Canucks.

Besides Kopitars one, where did you really see that? I didn't.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I was just speechless witnessing the 2nd goal by LV.
Just out of nothing.
Quick had been spectacular for the whole series, whole night, but let in the easiest one.
Then minutes later we conceded the 3rd, people started leaving...

Couldn't post anything last night, but I think we should give our players a break in this series.
Our players just spent so much energy chasing the LV players and spent so much energy on our own end when LV was pressing us. The first LV goal was the best example. We were just exhausted.

For the whole series, we were not able to play our own game but chasing the opposing players for shift after shift. When it was our time to attack, to get the puck out of our zone, we were dead tired already.

I arrived LA Live at around 5:30pm, and the atmosphere was great... a lot of people... Fans were chanting whole night long... very supportive.
Have to admit, LV played better than us, better team won.

It was my son's first playoff game... I had a great time with him. We stayed till the game end.

That move by Neal is absolutely spectacular, just a great move, then he faked going to the inside and slipped it in, that's a goal scorers goal, and yes Quick should have had it, but man, plays like that are what make hockey great.

 

[Reaper45]

We didn't take **** back in the 2014 series that we came back in.

Yeah the Kings aren't tough anymore. I'm looking at Clifford too. You make someone go if you really want to. No one has wanted to do anything this series. Now they'll probably have a couple of scraps in game 4, but too little too late. Game over man, game over.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I wasnt expecting a sweep(still hoping against it). I have been a fan for 30 years now. Seen a lot of bad hockey and am blessed to see the cup runs. I’m hopeful about Vilardi. Curious about what changes may be made in the offseason. I think next year is going to be tough. Kings benefitted from bad seasons for Calgary and Edmonton this year. Vegas is legit. Not sure how to feel about this Kings team going forward. Tired of them underachieving and failing to met expectations. Strange era of the Kings for me.

This is what a franchise looks like when they can't let go of the glory years. It's a first for all of us. Hell, I was so in love with Richards back in 2014, I thought Dean made the right decision by not CBOing him.

At this point, you have two untradeable players in Brown and Kopitar. Even with Kopitar's insane season, I don't think anyone is taking on his contract, not without some retention. Brown may have some value around the league as a veteran depth winger, but we wouldn't get back more than a pick and decent prospect for him. He has more value to the Kings than anyone else.

The only real chips we have to trade are Doughty, and to a lesser extent, Carter. Carter's value is rapidly declining with his age, and now this injured season. Nevertheless, we could probably get back a nice piece for him from a team desperate for veteran scoring.

Doughty, obviously, would garner a massive haul, and could kick start a rebuild. But I think this franchise will do absolutely everything in its power to keep him a King for life. Blake will offer him the moon. The only way Doughty leaves is if he wants to. In that case, trade him immediately - as in this summer - to maximize the return. We could easily snatch Marner++ for Doughty.

In a perfect world, you go full scorched earth rebuild, find a taker for Kopitar's contract, trade Doughty and Carter for significant assets, and stockpile picks. Brown and Quick stay around to mentor the next generation. Cap Space becomes a core player again, like the early Lombardi years.

But that's likely not going to happen. We probably go into 19/20 with $32 million in cap space between Kopitar, Doughty, Quick, and Brown. So it's time to start thinking outside the box. I think Carter and Toffoli absolutely need to go. Carter, because we need to recoup some assets and get younger at that critical position. Toffoli has unfortunately stagnated. You could probably get a decent depth winger and a pick/prospect for him.

It's also time to move on from Clifford and Lewis. Like others have pointed out, there's no reason to keep these kinds of players on the roster for a decade+. We need to continue getting younger.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Kings handling of the puck and puck control has been atrocious. The worst I've seen in years. Just abysmal. However, I've never seen such an aggressive team as LV that allows you no room to
do anything and they are always in position and quick on the puck and opponent. Kings forecheck has been about the poorest I've seen in years too.

 

[tny760]

We didn't take **** back in the 2014 series that we came back in.

refs seemed to stop every potential fight last night, hell who was it? clifford and carrier? gloves off and ready to go and the linesmen decide not to let it happen? engelland never had to answer for his crosschecks into players backs, mcnabb never had to answer to his to doughty's ribs, karlsson never had to answer to his flop

there's an element of unwillingness to fight, but there's also an element to "why bother" when the officials are just gonna stop it. i forget who it was, probably RJ earlier in this thread talking about how the officials are enabling this kind of rat behavior and it's totally true. "playoff hockey" seems to be "allow the cheap shot then punish the retaliation" and that's horseshit

 

[RONNIEC]

That move by Neal is absolutely spectacular, just a great move, then he faked going to the inside and slipped it in, that's a goal scorers goal, and yes Quick should have had it, but man, plays like that are what make hockey great.

Spectacular? Nah... it was a nice move by Neal, but we all agree that Quick should have saved it.
It was a goal that we could score in regular season... Pearson, Toffoli, Carter, Brown... but just not in this series.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Almost wonder what will it take for ownership to wake up. Doughty is probably going to sign with a Canadian team and try to end their cup drought.

But Rob Blake, assuming he’s still around needs to figure out the future and what identity he wants this team to have. I don’t think he’s an innovative or a visionary type of GM. Him and Luc are just going to continue to milk the cup years. I don’t see a rebuild happening until Doughty blows town.

 

[tny760]

Kings handling of the puck and puck control has been atrocious. The worst I've seen in years. Just abysmal. However, I've never seen such an aggressive team as LV that allows you no room to
do anything and they are always in position and quick on the puck and opponent. Kings forecheck has been about the poorest I've seen in years too.

never seen so many pucks fly off kings' sticks. no one could handle a pass. contrasted to vegas' ability to somehow corral every single puck in stride if it's within 10 feet and yeah, looked reeeeal bad.

so many times this season we sent 2 forecheckers in hard and teams can't do anything but cough up the puck by chipping it and praying it leaves the zone, haven't seen it ONCE this postseason. makes me want to reach out and shake stevens

 

[KingsHockey24]

refs seemed to stop every potential fight last night, hell who was it? clifford and carrier? gloves off and ready to go and the linesmen decide not to let it happen? engelland never had to answer for his crosschecks into players backs, mcnabb never had to answer to his to doughty's ribs, karlsson never had to answer to his flop

there's an element of unwillingness to fight, but there's also an element to "why bother" when the officials are just gonna stop it. i forget who it was, probably RJ earlier in this thread talking about how the officials are enabling this kind of rat behavior and it's totally true. "playoff hockey" seems to be "allow the cheap shot then punish the retaliation" and that's horse****

 

[Jason Squirties]

And to think so many of you guys were drooling for this matchup.